enzo

So, for those few of you who don't know we got a new puppy back in April.  His name is Enzo and I haven't gotten around to posting any pictures of him yet.  He's a neopolitan mastiff so he should wind up being roughly the size of a horse...maybe not quite.  He came home when he was 8 weeks old and weighed about 20 pounds.  Today at 14 weeks he's 53 pounds.  He's a good dog...for a puppy.  The big dogs tolerate him and Luca likes to boss him around.  He has a funny personality and I think he'll be a good fit for our menagerie.

spring days

It was a beautiful day here so Luca and I took this morning to head over to the beach and play in the sand with a new friend.  Many castles were built and destroyed, cars and tractors crashed and balls thrown.  Then over to the spillway for a little fishing with daddy followed by lunch and flower shopping with momma. 

After nap we followed Mike and papa over while they worked on the tractor and Luca got a horse ride out of the deal.  I think Mr. Russ has a soft spot for Luca since he even broke out the saddle to complete Luca's cowboy horse ride.

it's a jungle out there

Last month we got a chance to go with some friends out to the sale barn in town for an exotic sale.   We all had a great time.  We got to see the animals so close, Luca even got to pet the giraffe, Zach.  Zach was for sale, he's one of the giraffes from the movie Evan Almighty.  We saw all sorts of animals, Luca pet a baby bear cub and a pigmy marmoset grabbed my hand.  



 

The biggest hit of the day though was this sweet baby camel.  Luca was nervous to touch him at first but once he let that little baby suck on his finger he thought it was great.  The camel even kissed him on the face.  I tried to convince Mike that we have enough room for a couple little camels but no luck

...yet...next sale is in July!

how does our garden grow?

Well, time will tell.  We planted our first big garden this year.  Mike plowed and disked and tilled a place in one of our front pastures for a garden.  Luca and I went a little crazy picking out seeds and we all planted it last week.  We have had a few nice days of rain and luckily didn't loose the tomato plants to frost.  Hopefully we will have some nice vegetables this year.  We planted corn, squash, peppers, eggplant, cantaloupe, tomatoes and pole beans, yummy!  Not bad for a boy from the city!

Plowing

Disking

Tilling

Planting

Here are some pictures of our happy chickens too.  Mike built them a nice big pen this year since we have too many to move all over the yard now.  We gave a couple of hens to some friends so we're down to 10 and we're also down to 1 rooster but still tons of eggs!

And the country dogs...they have adjusted well to their new life!

can we fix it?

Luca spent a recent afternoon helping Mike and Papa work on the tractor. He loves to be in the middle of it all.



mike serino, animal rescuer

Just as I was sitting down to write and post some pictures of Easter, Mike told me that he needed me to help him scare a mama robin out of the garage.  Apparently Zita, our great dane, chased her into the garage and she got confused and stuck up in the rafters.  We spent about 30 minutes trying to shoo her down and then thought to get Luca's bug net (thanks nana and papa).  Mike climbed up into the attic and finally caught her because he didn't want her babies to get cold tonight.  Diego should be proud!

On Saturday before Easter we went to great-grandma June's for an Easter hunt and Luca had the chance to meet "that wierd bunny". He didn't want his picture taken with the bunny but we managed to get a cute one. 

 We had a nice Easter, Auntie Rhonda came up and we all had lunch with Nana and Papa. On Easter morning I had to remind Luca that the Easter bunny had come and he said "was it that wierd bunny?"

Luca got a little wind up bug in his Easter basket and he liked it but was afraid of it.  Just before this picture his mean momma tickled him right after making his but go and he almost jumped out of his skin.  He still likes the bug but askes someone else to wind it up so that he doesn't have to tough the legs when they move...but he will play with worms and chicken feet and real bugs without hesitation.

snips and snails and puppy dog tails

Our little boy is just that...all boy! He is enjoying this warm spring getting as dirty as possible and playing with turtles, toad frogs and worms.  He has been having "going mudding" with daddy.

This morning Mike plowed a garden for a neighbor and one for us.  Luca is excited about planting a garden.  He wants to plant tomatoes, carrots, and green beans.